TRAVEL

Home & Away with Robert WalsheLiving

Dublin has the best res-taurants on the island of ireland according to a recent food survey from Hotels.com. The survey, which questioned more than 27,000 travelers world-wide, including 1,032 irish holidaymakers, revealed that almost half (48%) of irish travelers consider Dublin to be best for dining out but the capital is last on the list for local food produce. Cork took the top spot for local produce with 18% of irish holidaymakers voting it their favourite for food followed closely by the West (16%), South West (16%) and the South East (15%). Although a large quantity of food producers and suppliers are based in Dublin, the capital city was ranked last with just 13%. On a global scale, the sur-vey revealed that Japanese food could one day rule the world after being voted glo-bal travelers third favourite culinary delight.

Weekend Hotspot – Radisson Athlone – www.radissonblu.ie

Athlone, in County West-meath has a rich heritage, and its castle, which domi-nates the town centre, dates back to the 12th cen-tury.

The facilities are being re-developed to bring the standards of interpretation and display in line with the visitor expectations of the twenty-first century.

The Keep of the Castle will be used to tell the dra-matic story of the famous Siege of Athlone while the other buildings will house a modern interpretative centre focusing on Athlone, the Castle and the periods both before and after the Siege. Athlone Castle Visi-tor Centre is a major tour-ist attraction for the town and has been closed while renovation plans have been

in development and is due to open later this year. Athlone (in irish Ath luain or the ford of luan) is one of 21 irish Walled towns and is steeped in history. it is one of the fastest grow-ing inland urban areas and has undergone significant changes and developments during the last fifteen years. Athlone’s position on the River Shannon at the foot of lough Ree has ensured a consistent influx of water enthusiasts including those who participate in sailing, cruising, wind surfing and canoeing.

Angling enthusiasts come to fish the Shannon and the many lakes located in the lakelands Region. Qui-gley’s Marina is located right at the southern end of lough Ree, 8 miles out-side Athlone offering 100 berthing spaces. The olde world ambiance of the town combined with mod-ern conveniences makes Athlone a delight to shop in. The Golden island Shop-ping Centre, Athlone Town-centre the left bank Mall & burgess of Athlone Depart-ment Store are a must do. The town is also renowned for the wide variety of restaurants and eateries catering for all tastes and budgets.

A wide range of amenities and services are available within a 20 mile radius of the town including excel-lent hotels, Spas, b&b’s and other accommodation options. leading the way the Radisson blu Hotel, overlooks the River Shan-non with magnificent views of the marina, the historic St Peter & Paul cathedral. Some of the 128 rooms & suites offer stunning views with a strong Scandinavian emphasis on modern flow-ing themes. with bright col-ours.

Elements Restaurant in-corporates the elemental themes of water, fire, earth

and air into its modern de-sign to create a relaxing atmosphere with floor-to-ceiling windows and an open-plan layout.

Here guests discover a menu with contemporary cooking at its finest. Radis-sons signature “super breakfast buffet” is also served here but remember to visit before the wedding party from the night before arrive!

Weather permitting the relaxing outdoor riverside terrace along the marina is idyllic and remember you can also work off all the excess food & wine at the Synergy Health and leisure Club with gym, steam room and indoor swimming pool if the notion takes you.

This Mid-term, a family of two adults and up to three children can pack them-selves off to the stylish waterfront Radisson blu Hotel, Athlone for a special break with plenty of added value.

You will enjoy, two nights comfortable family accom-modation, a Super buffet breakfast each morning to set you up for the day ahead, a delicious dinner on the evening of your choice in Element’s Res-taurant and a family boat cruise along the River Shannon out in the crisp, fresh autumn air.

The family Mid-term break is available from €329, so trade in the daily grind for some leisure time at Radis-son blu Hotel, Athlone this October. www.radissonblu.ie

Weekly Best Buy

indulge in a self-catering holiday at the five-star lodge at Doonbeg, Co. Clare this autumn. Each self-catering links cottage can sleep between two and eight people with prices starting at €380 for two people for three nights (October to December). All bedrooms are en-suite with walk in rain showers and boast a fully-equipped kitchen, large dining and lounge area which are ideal for families and groups looking for a relaxing break. What’s more, Doonbeg has a wide range of activities for all the family to enjoy. For

the golfer, guests can play the acclaimed Greg norman links course at a special rate of €75 and kids will be enter-tained with the playground and petting farm. For those who like to be pampered, the award winning White Horses Spa is guaranteed to leave any guest feeling re-laxed and rejuvenated.

There are also a host of other things to do in the surrounding area such as abseiling and caving; or simply enjoying the stun-ning scenery at the Cliffs of Moher or the world renowned burren. www.doonbeglodge.com if the lack of sun this summer has left you feeling down then a late autumn sunshine break could be just what you need.

Get away from the weather this October with Wings Abroad, the Turkish

holiday specialists, from just €369pp. Friendly staff, good weather and a host of top amenities await you in the 4* Golden Day Wings Hotel in the stunning resort of Kusadasi. Kusadasi has become a firm favourite with irish holiday makers, with couples and families returning year after year. 4 * Golden Day Wings Hotel, Kusadasi from €369pp for 7 nights / from €429 for 14 nights. Prices based on 2 persons sharing a twin room on a b&b basis and are for selected dates in October. www.wingsabroad.ie

Robert Walshe is a free-lance contributor / broad-caster and Travel Editor for River Media newspa-per titles across the is-land of Ireland. www.robertwalshe.com

Pet’s Corner... with Kathleen Murray

Home and Away ExtraAward winning specialist tour company

Wheely Wonderful Cycling has reported a 64 per cent increase in overseas visitors so far this year.

The company markets in excess of 50 different cycling, canoeing and walking holiday packages Wales and the English borderlands. it specialises in self-guided itineraries for all types of cyclists and walk-

ers, with all holidays starting from Petch-field Farm in the Teme Valley near the historic town of ludlow. Wheely Wonder-ful Cycling - www.wheelywonderfulcycling.co.uk - is a member of Mid Wales Tourism, an independent organisation represent-ing around 600 tourism and hospitality businesses across Powys, Ceredigion and Meirionnydd.

n Radisson Blu Athlone Ocean Room.n Athlone Marina at Radisson Blu.

EVERYOnE should love their dog. Why have one if you don’t? loving your dog is not enough though if someone other than family or friends come calling.

Your dog may know your family and your friends and be friendly towards them but that does not mean it will be friendly towards everyone it meets. lots of people have mentioned over the years about how they went to someone’s house and they were a bit apprehensive about the dog’s approach to-wards them.

The family replied by saying “Don’t worry he won’t touch you”. That is the biggest myth

of all time. The dog may in-deed do more than touch you, he may decide to take a piece out of you. This is not the fault of the dog, this is the fault of the owner. An owner needs to know their dog.

They need to have seen it’s response in many different situ-ations and the owner needs to have complete control over the dog at all times. A dog should not be left outside unsuper-vised in case of an accident with a passer by or a delivery person.

People selling tickets are often targets. Postmen, district nurses, Ambulance people,

Gardai, Canvassers at Election times are all easy prey for a loose dog with a protective or territorial attitude. What makes a dog bite one person and not another? What makes one dog bite, and another not bite? Dogs have different personalities just like we do and they react to dif-ferent personalities just like we do. We like some people, oth-ers we don’t. Our choice. Dogs are the same.

The only difference is that dogs don’t know about our laws on assault or maiming someone. if we didn’t have the law to live by then it wouldn’t be safe to step out of the house.

it would be a free-for-all. We would behave like our other animal friends, just act on in-stinct.

That’s why the law is there… to protect us from each other. unfortunately for our dogs they can’t read so they don’t know about our laws. it’s up to us to protect them from acting on instinct and to prevent them from being in a position where they could damage someone. if two people came into the house to visit, one was confident and the other was scared, the dog would have a different reaction to both of them. Scared people often react aggressively with

dogs which can cause a dog to react aggressively back again, even if it had no intention of doing anything in the first place. Scared dogs and confi-dent dogs behave differently with people also.

Every situation needs to be looked at separately. in the

meantime don’t leave your dog on it’s own to make up it’s own mind and don’t leave it in the same room as some-one who is not comfortable with it being there. A little bit of understanding and respect all round helps to prevent ill feeling or worse.

Is your dog a threat to visitors?